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Weekend 5 Recap

So, yeah… the Weekend 5 recap. I totally forgot about this till today. OOPS. My bad. Also, I just realised all of the photos I took are on my iFone, and I left that in the car, which the husband is currently using while out on back-to-back service calls, so those will have to be added this afternoon. Sorry.

Okay, here are my thoughts first:

1. The dill pickles from last week should be done fermenting. I will wait to open them when we make our burgers for dinner. I’m sure they will be delicious. Woot!

The happily unfussy apple cake was quick to assemble and bake, meaning this would be a great dessert for kids to make with minimal supervision. Overall, I liked the texture and choice of ingredients, but for me lacked enough flavour. I think amping up the cinnamon is what needs to happen here given how much cake this recipe yields. The scant 1/2 teaspoon was simply not enough. Since the Fall weather is just starting and that means lots of apples, I will get to play around with the cinnamon increment to figure it out soon enough. Overall, this is a great little recipe to try at home as a weeknight dessert.

The mushroom rice dish has a very straightforward cooking method, and I appreciate recipes like that. However, there weren’t any seasonings included beyond a bit of S&P, and this is purely my bias but I didn’t like the inclusion of the wine to the dish. (I also don’t like coq au vin if that makes you feel better.) This is recipe I wanted to like a lot, but didn’t. Even with fresh grated parm cheese on top. (!!!) I will have to take another kick at it very soon with some seasonings. I can easily imagine this side being a staple in our home with our winter meat dishes. I’m not giving up on it. I think it’s 75% good, but I want it to be 100% great, so I’m going to retool it to my liking. I will post the final version soon.

The gnocchi and zucchini ribbon dish was nice to make and eat, but it would have been a bit better if I had pan fried the gnocchi first instead of boiling it. I’m not a fan of soft, mushy gnocchi, and after boiling it to perfection then adding it to the pan to cook longer, it does tend to go mushy. Overall, this is a great little dish that’s got heart and legs. I was full for almost four hours after eating a small bowlful. And the husband was into it. It could use a bit of pow, though; I’m thinking perhaps the inclusion of some red pepper flakes or something similar, or maybe a splash of vinegar in the pan with the vegetables? In any case, this is as a lovely comfort dish that can be changed up as the seasons bleed into each other by switching seasonal produce to suit the weather and mood. Keeper.

5. I had high hopes for the sour cream and bacon potato salad, but it fell flat for me. I’m not really sure why. I haven’t had time to deconstruct the recipe and cooking method to figure it out since I was busy making a Beef Wellington at the same time. I can tell you my MIL and SIL loved this salad which I found odd because I thought for sure my MIL was going to turn her nose up at it after I tasted my first mouthful. She’s not one to eat salads that don’t measure up to hers, but she went back for seconds. Huh. And I thought at one point perhaps it was just me, but the husband thought it was lackluster as well, so who knows. {shrugs}

6. Today I’m finally getting around to making the fig jam after securing some lovely figs. Finally!